Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Vilsack Reviewing Sherrod Firing, But She Is Not Sure She Wants the Job

Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is reviewing his decision to fire Shirley Sherrod. Vilsack fired Sherrod after he viewed a misleading video that suggested she discriminated against white farmers.

The misleading video was posted by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart and subsequently aired on Fox News. Rather than investigating the facts, Vilsack demanded that Sherrod resign.

One day later, after media and blogs have aired the entire content of Sherrod's speech, Breitbart's lie has been made public and Sherrod's name has been cleared. It turns out that Sherrod was encourage the audience not to think of the world in racial terms (rather than condoning bigotry). Vilsack is reviewing the firing in light of these new developments.

Sherrod, however, seems torn about the prospect of working for the USDA again. During an interview with CNN, she describe the possibility as "bittersweet." Sherrod is upset that after such a long career assisting farmers, she was pressured to leave without any investigation into the facts surrounding the controversy. Sherrod says she is unsure how the agency will treat her if she returned.

Even against Brietbart, who is not technically a journalist and who has publicly admitted that he purposefully edited and posted the tape in an effort to retaliate against the NAACP? A wrongful termination case is against Vilsack and the USDA. He was wrong and acted in a way that definitely led to wrongful termination, no doubt about it. However, Vilsack didn't edit the tape and cast aspersions on her character in front of a national audience. That seems like it deserves consequences even more than Vilsack's actions.

Plus, I must admit to loving the fact that a defamation or slander suit would keep Breitbart and this whole thing in the news cycle longer than if she doesn't sue. That would do more to bring down her persecutor than loss of money. To rob him of his credibility and political power would be something that would pain him more, I think.

I'm clearly not doing so well at the "hoping that all sentient beings are free from suffering" thing tonight. This guy, I want to suffer - not physically, not his health or anything like that, just the loss of the things he has been so willing to harm others in pursuit of. That's a fitting consequence. It's my gleeful enjoyment of the thought that is so wrong.

About Me and the Blog

Professor Darren Hutchinson teaches Constitutional Law, Remedies, Race and the Law, and a Civil Rights Seminar at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Professor Hutchinson also holds the prestigious Stephen C. O’Connell Chair.
Professor Hutchinson received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Before teaching law, Professor Hutchinson practiced commercial litigation at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton in New York City. He also clerked for the late Honorable Mary Johnson Lowe, a former United States District Judge in the Southern District of New York.
Professor Hutchinson's research has appeared in many prestigious journals including the Cornell Law Review, Washington University Law Review, UCLA Law Review, University of Michigan Journal of Race and Law, and University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law.
He has also presented his research at numerous universities, including Yale, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley, University of Virginia, Cornell, Georgetown, and Boston University.

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